Alaskans in the world
Kelly Hurd in Sri Lanka
By Heather Brook Adams
On February 2, 2005, Anchorage resident Kelly Hurd traveled to Sri Lanka to provide disaster relief to thousands of individuals affected by the Southeast Asia Tsunami. Kelly’s assignment, as a member of the American Red Cross International Response Team, lasted for one month, during which time she coordinated the distribution of relief supplies such as tents, tarps, ropes, saris, mosquito nets, and stoves.
AHN: What is the Red Cross International Response Team?
The team’s role is to respond immediately to international disasters. We work in collaboration and within the Red Cross Movement. On a National level, our organization was in close contact with the Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to determine needs and how the American Red Cross can respond. We work in concert with all of the other Red Cross and Red Crescent societies that were responding as well, and offering different pieces of the overall relief effort. Some provided hospitals, some provided wells and cleansing materials. Our role as the American Red Cross team was to provide non-food resources and distribute them from three targeted provinces: Galle, Para, and Matra. I was part of the second group of responders to travel to this region.
AHN: What were your thoughts before making this journey?
I was really apprehensive of going, when considering my work and community commitments. My being gone from our office during our busiest time of would leave a large gap in service at our local Red Cross office. But so many people came forward—several staff members and several volunteers and interns—and said how important it was for me to go. Also, Mike, my boyfriend, was very, very supportive. He reminded me that this is such a big part of the reason that I love the Red Cross, so I shouldn’t let this opportunity go by. He told me that I needed to take advantage of it. It was through the encouragement of my friends and peers that I felt I was able to go and make this commitment.
Kelly flew to Washington D.C. for an assignment briefing and preparatory inoculations. She then traveled onto Columbo, crossing eleven time zones, leaving snowy Alaska for balmy Sri Lanka.
AHN: Once you arrived in Sri Lanka, did you immediately see the effects or the tsunami?
Columbo was beyond the tsunami-affected area, but you didn’t have to get far out of the area to see signs of the tsumani.
Literally entire villages were wiped out—leveled. Granted, I was there about six weeks after the tsunami, so a lot of clean-up already had been done. When I talked to the other team members about my disbelief at the devastation, they told me that I should have seen the area weeks prior. Villages were totally destroyed, and tent villages were erected with supplies donated from different societies around the world. The tents were emblazoned with the Red Cross logo on them, so they were marked as a gift from the American Red Cross, or the Kuwait Red Crescent, etc. It was fascinating to see the world represented on the tents, and the act of the world coming together to help those in need.
AHN: What images most resonate in your mind?
I think one of the strangest things was simply that the tsunami pushed everything that was normally in the water onto the land. There were huge boats that would be docked in the water that would be pushed way inland, even on their sides. When I was there, there were some huge tankers—hundreds of feet long—that were just pushed up on shore. They were damaged, so they needed to be fixed and somehow hauled back into the water. This is in a country that has far less machinery and resources than we have here. They were working on a lot of this by hand.
One night I returned from work and I heard a clamoring across the bay. The local people had found a bus that had sunk in the bay and they were all working together, pulling it out from the water by hand. Not only were these folks so poor to begin with, but then they had to recover with such limited resources—it was humbling to observe. Just to think about the sheer human muscle needed to pull that bus from the water—to tie a chain around it and pull it out—is hard to comprehend.
AHN: Since you worked mostly with logistics and tracking large quantities of materials, you probably didn’t deal directly with individuals approaching the Red Cross for assistance. Did you interact with anyone in a memorable manner?
I remember one man who came to our office with this wild look about him. He had lost his entire family—all of his children and his wife. He came to us looking for help, really just grabbing at straws. It was very sad, but on the other hand I was amazed. I can’t imagine how our society would deal with this kind of tragedy, losing tens of thousands of people and living in tent cities, trying to recover. I wonder if there would be riots—I don’t know—I just can’t imagine this society dealing with these issues the way that the Sri Lankans were. Can you imagine living in a one-room tent with your family of five, and this is where you sleep, eat, cook? There was also displacement because the government told some folks that they couldn’t move back to where they had been living. So many people had to find a new village, or even create one from forested or savannah regions.
People definitely wanted to tell others their stories. I think that that is another way in which the Red Cross helps—we provide assistance, but we are also just there to listen to stories and provide those in need with resources and support. It felt wonderful to be there to help, and I am proud of the work that our team completed. I learned that the world can come together through the Red Cross to respond to unimaginable tragedy. I think that you can see images on television and read articles, but you don’t begin to understand the devastation until you actually are there to see it for yourself.
AHN: What did you take most from this experience?
What I left with was the overwhelming spirit of humanity: how strong people are and how they can persevere and live through such unimaginable things. To me, it is amazing to consider this strength that people had. The locals kept building toward tomorrow. Even though that is all that they were able to do, I kept wondering how I would react in the same situation.
I was also moved by the way in which the Sri Lankans handled the relief effort, while being supported by the other Red Cross groups. They coordinated an orderly and dignified distribution, even though they don’t have the technological resources that we (Americans) do. They really are connected to people and rely on one another, and I think that that is beautiful. Also, I was amazed at just how thankful and appreciative these individuals were. They lost everything, but still were so grateful for any help they received. They were thankful and told each of us to thank the American people once we returned home. It is such an incredible experience—to work alongside folks from all over the globe to help those in need. To me, that is the beauty of the Red Cross—it knows no boundaries in the help it provides.
Kelly Hurd is a Return Peace Corps volunteer, an experience which stimulated her ongoing interest in international aid.